Qcumbor

Castulo, Spain, AE As - 2nd century BC Virile head right, a hand before Sphinx walking right. Iberian for KASTILO at exergue 15.9 gr Ref : Sear GIC #15, Catalogue 38 and 39 CNH (CORPVS NVMMUM HISPANIAE, L. Villaronga) Next : sphynx Q

I'm with you @Salomons Cat. I can live with "almost as good" too and also understand people with more wealth have the desire to acquiring the utmost quality whatever the price. I won't complain since I'm happy with what I get, and will never reach that league during my lifetime 🙂 A few examples of what I can live with, even though I appreciate the differences and the huge gap in price they entail Dioscuri : Mine : Dioscuri : Mine : Dioscuri : Mine : And some others Q

I too am open to discussions of that sort (I already do with some people here). More specifically, any question you might have about Dombes coinage is welcome 😄 !! (I'm ready to stay alone on that one though !!) Q

Neron (13/10/54- 09/06/68) - Tétradrachme de l'atelier d'Alexandrie, AD 63-64 ΝΕΡΩ ΚΛΑΥ ΚΑΙΣ ΣΕΒ ΤΕΡ ΑΥ, Buste radié à droite ΠΟΠΠΑΙΑ ΣΕΒΑΣTH, Buste drapé de Poppée à droite, LI dans le champ à droite (10° année de règne) 12.3 gr Ref : Emmett # 128/10 (R1), Kampmann #14.78, RCV # 2002 v, Next : Provincial Nero Q

You guys amaze me. I've thrown three bids in and was blasted out on them all. I guess participating was more a testimony on my part (being able to tell my great grand children "I was there" ! 😄 ) The one I really regret is that fabulous portrait of Julia Soemias. Congrats to the winner, I've yet to see another of this Empress that nice : It would have paired nicely with my own Julia Maesa example (I bet they were from the same engraver) Q

Welcome to the club @JayAg47. Here's my example of your coin, acquired long ago, while it was still affordable I guess Julius Caesar and Marcus Antonius, Denarius - Denarius minted 43 BCE M ANTO IMP RPC, Head of Marcus Antonius right, lituus behind him CAESAR DIC, Head of Caesar right, jug behind him 3.76 gr Ref : HCRI # 123, RCV #1465, Cohen #3 Q

I've had a very recent, and positive experience with CGB in Paris. I've dealt with them many times in the past but that time they have been amazing : Auction on tuesday, Invoice early morning on wednesday (I paid promptly before noon by Paypal with no extra expense), Parcel at my door on thursday afternoon via DHL. The whole for the whopping amount of 9 (nine) euros ! Sure, that was from France to France, but anyway, that was great Q

You kill me @Alegandron, those are fantastic Q

That one drives me crazy @Alegandron, it's so beautiful, and should really stand together with my two own heavy denarii !! 😄 BTW, one of them reaches the OP requirements : it shows its age and I love it as it is Roman republic, anonymous didrachm (heavy denarius) - Rome mint c. 240 BCE No legend, Head of youthful Mars to right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet decorated with a griffin springing right ROMA Head of a bridled horse to right. To left, sickle 6,33 gr - 19 mm - 6 h Ref : Crawford # 25/1, RCV # 26, RBW # 38, RSC # 34, Sydenham # 24 Albert # 50 Q

Now you have me really jealous ! Very nice addition, and the wear is even enough to not distract from the coin. I have yet (after 50 years of collecting) to get my first aureus. The closest I can contribute with will be electrum : Bosporan kingdom – El stater, dated 491 (194-195 CE) BACIΛΕωC CAVPOMATOV (anticlockwise). Draped and diademed bust of Sauromates II right Laureate head of Septimius Severus right. Star in right field. Retrograd VPA at exergue (year 491) 7,69 gr – 20 mm Ref : MacDonald # 502/2, Sear # 5476 var, RPC IV.1 # 3818-3820 Q

Nice acquisition. I too have a "poor man's version" of a Brutus coin M. Junius Brutus, Denarius - Rome mint, 54 BCE. BRVTVS Bearded head of L. Junius Brutus to right AHALA Bearded head of C. Servilius Ahala to right Silver, 19 mm - 3.48 g - 6 h Ref : RCV # 398, RSC, Junia # 30, Babelon (Junia) # 31. Crawford # 433/2. RBW # 1543. Sydenham # 907. Q

Sure. I think the only time I bought from them was off of Vcoins, more than a decade ago Q

Absolutely. I have several coins from the Dombes principality about which no one on earth would give a shit (apart from me), including two unique to date gold ones, that would make me a millionaire were they 19th century US And I'm glad no one cares, as I couldn't aford them otherwise Q

Ptolemy II Philadelphos : Obol (Bronze), Alexandria, circa 260-246 BC. Diademed head of the deified Alexander III to right, wearing elephant skin headdress and aegis around his neck, and with horn of Ammon on his forehead. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ Eagle with open wings standing left on thunderbolt ; between the eagle's legs, Λ. 24 mm, 10.43 g, 1 h Ref : Lorber # B250, Sear # 7780v. Next : elephant skin headdress Q

Funny ! Here's a scarce one semis Trajan Decius, Semis - Rome mint, AD 249-250 IMP C M Q TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG Laureate and draped bust right Mars standing left, holding spear and shield. S|C in field 19 mm, 4,71 gr Ref : RIC # 128, Cohen # 102, RCV # 9433 Q

Theodora, AE4 - Posthumous issue under the reigns of the sons of Constantine the great Trier mint, 2nd officina FL MAX THEODORAE AVG, draped and diademed bust right PIETAS ROMANA, Pietas standing holding child. TRS at exergue 1.54 gr Ref : Cohen # 4, Roman coins # 3911 Next : 4th century Q

The item I'll write about is both not coin related AND coin related. During the first half of the 40's in then occupied Corsica, while there was a shortage of about everything, my grandad built a kind of weird tool to cut out stripes of pasta in order to get tagliatelle in the end. Nowadays you would use something like that for your DIY tagliatelle : Back then he had the brilliant idea to save 20 holed 25 cts coin that were in use at the moment, like the one below Then he had to wash them (hopefully), file them to have them sharp enough to cut pasta and arrange them as follows I still have it with me, together with the sestertius he found at Verdun battle (pretty sure he wasn't the one who shot @DonnaML's grandad 🙂 , and he got shot himself during that battle). I swear I've never used that "thing" to cook ! ... and I made sure there's no key date in it (they would be ruined anyway 😄 ) Bon appétit ! Q

Diocletian, Follis - Alexandria mint, 2nd officina, c. 304-305 CE IMP C DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG, Laureate bust of Diocletianus right IOVI CONS CAES, Jupiter standing left, holding victory and spear. B in right field S | P in lower field, ALE at exergue 11.21 gr Ref : Cohen # 173, RCV # 12805 (180), RIC VI # 41 Next : tetrarchial. Bonus point for a deep chocolate patina like the above (I love chocolate !) Q

The coin is excellent @CPK and your discoveries about it fascinating. And beautiful picture BTW ! I can't but post again my own Commodus sestertius (sorry folks for those who have already seen it so many times) Commodus, Sestertius - Rome mint, 192 CE L AEL AVREL CO---MM AVG P FEL, Laureate head of Commodus right HERCVLI ROMANO AVG, Hercules facing, head left, holding club and lion's skin, resting on trophy. SC in field 21,01 gr Ref : RCV #5752, Cohen #203, BMC # 314. RIC # 640. This is the very first roman coin I have ever possessed, gift from my grand father who found it digging a trench at Verdun battle during WWI The following comment is taken from the description of a similar example (in far much better condition) in NAC auction 54, # 477 : Few Roman coins excite as much commentary as those of Commodus, which show him possessed of Hercules. Not only do they present an extraordinary image, but they offer incontrovertible support to the literary record. The reports of Commodus’ megalomania and infatuation with Hercules are so alarming and fanciful that if the numismatic record was not there to confirm, modern historians would almost certainly regard the literary record as an absurd version of affairs, much in the way reports of Tiberius’ depraved behaviour on Capri are considered to be callous exaggerations. Faced with such rich and diverse evidence, there can be no question that late in his life Commodus believed that Hercules was his divine patron. Indeed, he worshipped the demigod so intensely that he renamed the month of September after him, and he eventually came to believe himself to be an incarnation of the mythological hero. By tradition, Hercules had fashioned his knotted club from a wild olive tree that he tore from the soil of Mount Helicon and subsequently used to kill the lion of Cithaeron when he was only 18 years old. Probably the most familiar account of his bow and arrows was his shooting of the Stymphalian birds while fulfilling his sixth labour. The reverse inscription HERCVLI ROMANO AVG (‘to the August Roman Hercules’) makes the coin all the more interesting, especially when put into context with those of contemporary coins inscribed HERCVLI COMMODO AVG, which amounts to a dedication ‘to Hercules Commodus Augustus’. Q

I've learned that very recently, when I posted the coin below and @Valentinian pointed me to his excellent web page Severe Alexandre ( 222 - 235) - Tétradrachme de l'atelier d'Alexandrie, AD 225-226 A KAI M AYΡ CЄOΥΗΡ ΑΛЄΞΑΝΔΡΟC ЄΥCЄΒ, Buste lauré et drapé à droite vu par l'arrière L ΠЄΜΠΤΟΥ (5° année de règne), Serapis debout, la tête à gauche, vetu de la Kalathos, levant la main droite et tenant dans sa main gauche un sceptre. 28 mm - 13.47gr - 12 h Ref : Emmett # 3134/5 (R1), Kampmann # 62.70, RPC VI online # 10333 (temporary), Dattari (Savio) # 4357 Provenance : Leu webauction # 29/1523 Pour aller plus loin et en apprendre un peu plus sur ce type inhabituel (en style, en diametre, en légende), voir ici Q

Not sure of the intended meaning of "sol" 😄 but here's 1 Sol Convention - Sol aux balances 1793 D• (Atelier de Dijon) REPUBLIQUE FRANCOISE, la table de la loi, avec gravé LES HOMMES SONT EGAUX DEVANT LA LOI en six lignes, de part et d'autre une grappe de raisin et des epis de blé, a l'exergue L'AN II LIBERTE EGALITE, balance surmontée d'un bonnet phrygien, entourée d'une couronne de chêne, au centre I . S . a l'exergue D. 1793 en deux lignes 11,90 gr - 29 mm Ref : Gadoury 2003 # 19 Next : scales Q

Some shots taken in our garden, and the hill seen from our garden late afternoon in autumn Q

Good idea for a thread. I don't usually upgrade, since I try to buy (as much as possible) the right coin in first place. Well, of course it's not always possible Here's a modest Gordian III denarius : That has been replaced by the following, much, much better, but also ex @Severus Alexander's collection : a real gem Q

Terrific examples so far all along this thread. I particularily like the OP for its portrait of young Nero. Here's a young portrait of the rather nice dude he was then, before, well the rest of the story Neron Cesar (25/02/50-13/10/54) - Hemiassarion de l'atelier de Thyateira (Lydie), 50-54 CE NЄΡΩN KΛAY[ΔIOC] KAICAP ΓЄP, Buste drapé de Neron tête nue à droite ΘYAT-ЄIPH/NΩ-N, Francisque 17 mm - 3.54 g - 1 h Ref : GRPC Lydia # 143. RPC I # 2381 Did you know Victory was playing in the NBA ? Q

Very cool boxes ! My "N" version of the coin. No box here Napoleon I° Empereur - Décime 1814BB - Monnaie obsidionnale - Atelier de Strasbourg (BB) N couronnée dans une couronne de chêne UN / DECIME. /1814. / BB en quatre lignes dans une couronne de chêne Tranche inscrite DIEU PROTEGE LA FRANCE 32 mm - 21 gr Ref : Le Franc 10 # 131/1 (180261 ex.) Q